Relevant Issues
HABITATS: Tropical rain forests, evergreen forests, mangrove swamps, grasslands, savannas, and temperate forests
Tigers generally gain independence at two years of age and attain sexual maturity at 3-4 years for females and at 4-5 years for males. Juvenile mortality is high however—about half of all cubs do not survive more than two years. Tigers have been known to reach the age of 26 years in the wild.
Males of the largest subspecies, the Amur (Siberian) tiger, may weigh up to 660 pounds. For males of the smallest subspecies—the Sumatran tiger—upper range is at around 310 pounds. Within each subspecies, males are heavier than females. Tigers are mostly solitary, apart from associations between mother and offspring. Individual tigers have a large territory and the size is determined mostly by the availability of prey. Although individuals do not patrol their territories, they visit over a period of days or weeks and mark their territory with urine and feces.
Tigers generally gain independence at two years of age and attain sexual maturity at 3-4 years for females and at 4-5 years for males. Juvenile mortality is high however—about half of all cubs do not survive more than two years. Tigers have been known to reach the age of 26 years in the wild.
Males of the largest subspecies, the Amur (Siberian) tiger, may weigh up to 660 pounds. For males of the smallest subspecies—the Sumatran tiger—upper range is at around 310 pounds. Within each subspecies, males are heavier than females. Tigers are mostly solitary, apart from associations between mother and offspring. Individual tigers have a large territory and the size is determined mostly by the availability of prey. Although individuals do not patrol their territories, they visit over a period of days or weeks and mark their territory with urine and feces.
- At present, the biggest enemy for Tiger is human.
- The bone and virtually all tiger body parts were used in traditional Oriental medicine, although today this practice has been banned in China.
- Poaching for obtaining skin and habitat destruction has reduced considerably the wild tiger population. It is estimated that in the early twentieth century there were about 100,000 tigers in the wild, spread from the Anatolian Peninsula to the island of Bali, while recently estimated that wild tiger population consists of little more than 3,000 copies, while in captivity is estimated that there are approximately 20 000.
- There could be as few as 3,200 tigers in the wild, most in isolated pockets spread across increasingly fragmented forests, stretching from India to southeastern China and from the Russian Far East to Sumatra, Indonesia. Largest of all cats, the tiger is one of the most threatened species on Earth. Tigers prefer to eat hoofed animals, but will also prey on fish, birds and even other predators like leopards and bears. These beautiful cats are threatened by growing human populations, loss of habitat, illegal hunting (of both tigers and their prey species) and expanded trade in tiger parts used as traditional medicines.